Ashley Mwanza
Eureka!!! Yes, an African solution for an African problem! With a dearth of smiles in Zimbabwe on Wednesday, Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as premier by his political nemesis president Robert Mugabe. The long fight to this moment, which included Tsvangirai’s exile and the death of many of his political supporters, has culminated in a power-sharing agreement between the two men and their parties.
So, we’ll see. There’s been optimism before that’s fizzled out. That may happen this time; but as I noted at the start of the year, my main reason for thinking that perhaps it’s different this time is because that’s what I’m hearing directly from down in that part of the world, yes directly from ZIMBABWE!!
A UN Development Programme discussion document on recovery in September 2008 estimated that Zimbabwe would need US$5 billion in foreign aid, including debt relief, over the next five years, along with painful reforms to the economy. The European diplomat pointed out that the global economic crisis would undoubtedly put pressure on aid budgets next year, while Zimbabwe's self-classification as a middle-income country could complicate funding mechanisms.
There would also likely be debate in the Zimbabwean cabinet over economic reforms, among other policy issues. It was the government's World Bank-inspired structural adjustment programme in the mid-90s that breathed life into the previously supine unions, and ultimately led to the formation of the MDC in 1999.
Currency reform would be one of the planks of recovery, which is in effect being brought about with dollarisation, but as one humanitarian official pointed out, "without the necessary social security protection in place for the poor".
Zimbabwe's infrastructure, although worn and wobbly, is still in place. The expectation is that with international aid and committed political leadership, the country could rebound quite quickly.
An estimated three million people have left the country in search of work. Many would remain abroad, their families dependent on their remittances, but some would return, bringing skills with them. How they will be received could be an issue: as one journalist joked, they would be regarded as having run away, when their colleagues stayed and endured. I find myself in that category....
Let us hope and pray.
Maybe Zimbabwe is finally getting the divine intervention that it needs. God bless Zimbabwe...
0 comments: